WARWICKSHIRE’S Twenty20 revival was ended by a 24-run defeat to a Northamptonshire side oozing self-belief and looking every inch potential group winners.

Two successive wins had galvanised the Bears but the visitors extended their 100 per cent record thanks to bowling of nous and skill which simply throttled Warwickshire’s pursuit of 155.

At 95 for two in the 12th over, the Bears looked set fair but after Jonathan Trott’s dismissal the innings fell apart. The last nine overs brought just 39 runs for four wickets.

Warwickshire’s hopes of a home quarter-final all but disappeared as the contest fizzled out in front of a disappointed (and disappointing) 5,500 crowd. The Bears must now focus on the scramble for second place, starting at home to Gloucestershire on Thursday.

After Northamptonshire chose to bat, for the second time in a week Rob White proved a thorn in the Bears’ side. At Northampton last Monday he whacked 40 from 15 balls. Last night his batting was less spectacular (59 from 47 balls) but more important to his team because nobody else reached 30.

White and Rikki Wessels added 45 in five overs. Wessels, dropped on one by Keith Barker, increased the fielder’s pain by hitting him for six and raced to 28 from 15 balls before lifting Stef Piolet to long off.

Andrew Hall and Johanes Van der Wath offered a couple of shots in anger but, after Piolet bowled White, the innings was a business of bits and pieces as Jeetan Patel delivered four canny overs to keep a brake on the scoring. Carter launched the Bears’ reply with a 12-ball 25 which would have ended at five if Monty Panesar had held a catch at long leg.

Jonathan Trott continued his good form and leapfrogged Ian Harvey into 12th on the list of T20 run-scorers on his way to 44 from 34 balls but his departure, chipping David Willey to long on, triggered the tamest of surrenders.

David Willey, 19-year-old son of Peter and the only Northampton-born player on the county’s playing staff, bowled beautifully for two for 17 in four overs and the Bears had no lower-order hitter capable of hauling the innings out of decline.

n BEARS seamer Calum MacLeod has been called into Scotland’s Twenty20 World Cup squad following the abrupt withdrawal of John Blain.

Blain walked out for “personal reasons” but the World Cup technical committee have allowed Scotland to draft in MacLeod as a replacement even though the switch is not injury-related.

MacLeod joins batsman Navdeep Poonia in the Scotland set-up while the Bears are also witout paceman Boyd Rankin who is in the Ireland squad for the tournament.

With Rikki Clarke and Andrew Miller still on the way back from injury, Warwickshire’s seam-bowling resources will be stretched when they return to championship action against Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston on Saturday.